Category Archives: books

Eureka!

4 Replies

On 19 November I wrote regarding the perils of self publishing (see https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/the-perils-of-self-publishing/). I bemoaned the fact that despite having paid nearly £400 to have my book published, over a month ago I am still waiting for the book cover image to be e-mailed to me for approval. I’m pleased to report that a bit of firm but exceedingly polite behaviour on my part has resulted in the publishing company promising to let me have the final proof next week so, with a bit of luck “The First Time” will be available for purchase at some point in December. I feel cautiously optimistic but I won’t believe it until I can click on links to “The First Time” and see my book available for purchase as an e-book.

Compared to the problems I’ve experienced in getting “The First Time” published, publishing “The Girl At The Bus Stop”, using Kindle Direct Publishing was as easy as falling off a log. I’ll see how “The First Time” looks once it goes live, however the ease with which self publishing on Amazon works inclines me towards using Kindle Direct Publishing for future books rather than shelling out money to companies offering self publishing packages.

Once “The First Time” is available for sale I will post links to it on this blog.

empty vessels make the most noise

3 Replies

The sound of birds tweting happily away is one of the most beautiful this world has to offer. The singing of birds is especially beautiful during the Dawn Chorus and late in the evening just as our feathered friends are preparing to roost for the night. There is, however another kind of tweting which sets my teeth on edge, that of twitter.com.

My objections to Twitter are twofold, first it promotes (not always but often) inanity of the worst kind and, second twitter.com leads people to behave irresponsibly and, on occasions with a blatant disregard to the law.

As regards pointless tweting I really don’t care that Jo Bloggs is having coffee in Mcdonalds or some other restaurant and I smile with disbelief at those who religiously follow Jo Blogg’s tweats. Apart from my concerns regarding those who note all Jo’s tweats I also can’t help thinking that Mr Blogs might enjoy his coffee even more if he didn’t feel the necessity of tweting to all and sundry about his drinking habits.

Of course who people choose to follow is their own concern, It is no business of mine grimace though I may. However of real concern is the irresponsible attitude adopted by some users of Twitter. This was most recently exemplified by approximately 10,000 users of Twitter who either accused a senior member of the British Tory (Conservative) Party of being a paedophile or retweted these wholly false allegations. Given the falsity of the tweats the gentleman in question has, not surprisingly instructed lawyers to sue the tweters in question. As it stands a number of prominent people stand to lose significant sums of money if they are proved to have made the false allegations in question.

Paedophilia is a horrendous crime, however to make baseless allegations concerning innocent individuals is wholly inexcusable. Of course tongues will wag in pubs and other public places and one can not prevent this. However in the case of Twitter baseless accusations can be tweted around the globe to hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of seconds and the names of wholly innocent people become blackened. People who have never in their lives harmed a child have been attacked and, on occasions killed due to wholly baseless rumours regarding them. People need to think rather than jumping on the band wagon and using Twitter to fuel the rumour mill.

When I think of Twitter that phrase of Shakespeare’s springs unbidden into my mind “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing”.

Having said all that I do use Twitter to promote my blog so I am speaking with something of a fawked tongue. However I am seriously considering closing my Twitter account as I don’t like the ethos which all to often it seems to spawn. Of course there are countless numbers of decent Twitter users but I still don’t like the shallowness which it all to often appears to represent.

 

The Perils of Self-Publishing

3 Replies

As an author I entered the world of self publishing like a naïve young virgin with little (if any) idea of the big bad world. I self published my first book “The Girl At The Bus Stop” on Amazon with only very minor difficulties and, best of all it cost me £0 to do so! However I am still waiting for what should have been my first published book of short stories, “The First Time” to be published as an e-book. Unlike “The Girl At The Bus Stop” I chose to use the services of an outfit specialising in assisting authors who wish to self publish when publishing “The First Time”. Their website states that books should appear within 6-8 weeks and be sent to approximately 200 e-book publishers for distribution. It is now around 1 month since I signed up with this company and as of today (19 November) I am still waiting for the book cover which I paid extra for to be e-mailed to me for approval. I’m beginning to wish that I’d gone down the road of using Amazon’s self publishing feature for both books not just “The Girl At The Bus Stop”.

I paid just under £400 for the privilege of having my book cover designed, the book formatted in order to make it suitable for e-readers and for the file to be sent to around 200 e-book publishers. I am, as I say beginning to question whether this was money well spent.

I would be very interested to hear the views of others.

Reading and the visually impaired

Leave a reply

E-books possess many advantages. Unlike print books one does not need to spend hours browsing around bookshops to find the book of your choice or, alternatively wait for several days for that print book you have ordered online to arrive. With the click of a mouse one can order Oliver Twist and have it delivered to the e-reader of your choice in minutes (often seconds). Again for those with limited space e-books are a godsend as a Kindle or other e-reader can hold a multiplicity of books in a tiny space. One group who have benefited enormously from the growth of e-books are the visually impaired. For centuries those with no vision had to rely on the kindness of family or friends to access the wonderful world of literature. Following the invention of braille a door was opened allowing blind people who mastered it to access books, however the number of titles availible in braille is tiny compared to the vast array of print books availible to sighted individuals. For the blind book lover wanting to read the classics, for example Great Expectations or War and Peace, both titles are availible in braille. However for a long time blind people struggled to keep up with the reading habits of their sighted family and friends as most contemporary literature is not availible in braille due to the costs of producing it. Again braille books take up a great deal of space (the New Oxford Book of English Verse runs to 10 thick braille volumes while it’s print counterpart is a single book).

The Kindle, the I-Pad and the I-Pod all have in-built voices (in the case of the more expensive version of the Kindle this is known as text to speech while Apple’s software is named voiceover). The technology allows people with little or no sight to access e-books opening up a world of literature which was largely closed to them hitherto.

To my knowledge Kindle’s web browser is not easily accessible (if at all) to blind people, however the visually impaired may access Amazon’s website using screenreading software such as Jaws which converts text into speech and braille and purchase titles with ease. Once a title is downloaded to the Kindle it is possible for a blind person to navigate around the menus, select books etc. While it is difficult for blind people to easily skip through the sections of a book using the Kindle, listening to a book from start to finish presents few (if any) difficulties.

Unfortunately a number of e-readers such as the Cobo are currently useless from the point of view of blind people as there is no ability for the visually impaired individual to have books read aloud. It is to be hoped that those manufacturers of e-readers who do not, at present build in speech capability will, in the future incorporate this facility making their products viable purchases for those with little or no vision. The world of reading should be open to everyone not just those who have vision.

(For my collection of erotic short stories “The Girl At The Bus Stop And Other Erotic Short Stories”, by K Morris please visit http://www.amazon.com/other-erotic-short-stories-ebook/dp/B00A6H75Y6/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1353136476&sr=1-2&keywords=the+girl+at+the+bus+stop. If the link doesn’t work please visit Amazon’s Kindle Store and search for “The Girl At The Bus Stop And Other Erotic Short Stories” by K Morris).

The First Time

Leave a reply

I am in the process of having my second collection of short stories “The First Time” published by authorsonline.co.uk. The synopsis for this second collection reads
“The First Time

In this collection of short stories the author explores why young women enter the world of prostitution while other stories look at what happens when the worlds of sex and technology collide.
In “The First Time”, the first story in this collection, we meet Becky a young graduate who enters the world of prostitution in order to clear her debts. The story looks at the effects of prostitution on Becky and her fellow escort and friend Julie. In “The Pain Behind the Smile” Issie presents her friend, Peter with a birthday cake, however things are not what they seem.
In “Lucy” the acquaintences of a crusty old batchellor speculate how he could attract and retain the affections of a beautiful young woman. As with “The Pain Behind the Smile” things are far from what they seem.
“Hemlock” explores what happens when machines attain the capacity to appreciate high culture. The story is both humorous and deeply serious.”
“The First Time” should be availible for purchase in late December.
For my first collection of erotic short stories, “The Girl At The Bus Stop And Other Erotic Short Stories”, by K Morris please visit either amazon.com or amazon.co.uk where it is availible as an e-book in the Kindle Store.

Ebooks versus print

3 Replies

I am, on the whole a huge fan of ebooks. The technology allows the user to carry around a veritable library of world literature in their hands. No longer need one trip over piles of books littering the floor in the spare room or spend ages dusting ancient tomes with a yellow duster. Electronic books unlike their traditional counterparts are instantaneous. With the click of a mouse one can order and have delivered in seconds War and Peace to the electronic device of your choice whether it be Kindle or I-Pad.
On the flip side I love the smell and feel of traditional books. One of my happiest memories as a child is of visiting W H Smiths and browsing shelves of children’s classics ranging from The Famous Five to The Secret Seven. It was (and still is) that wonderful scent of books which hits me whenever I enter Smiths or any other book shop. Ebooks have many advantages but scent is not among them!
I also like the permanence of physical books. Its wonderful to sit in a room surrounded by books. To take down a book at random and flick through it’s pages is surely one of life’s great pleasures. Physical books can (and do) last for centuries. There is something essentially civilised about entering a room full of books which I for one value. Where I to lose my Kindle I would be anoyed given the large quantity of ebooks I own. However I would be devestated where I to lose my traditional library. I simply can’t imagine living in a house without physical books.
For my ebook “The Girl At the Bus Stop And Other Erotic Short Stories” by K Morris please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/other-erotic-short-stories-ebook/dp/B00A6H75Y6/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1352954780&sr=1-2